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It takes until the last fleeting seconds before midnight, but the Nationals strike a deal with the No. 1 overall pick that Scott Boras describes as a once-in-a-generation player. No, this is not a replay from last year’s negotiations with Stephen Strasburg -- the Nats come to terms with 17-year-old wunderkind Bryce Harper on a five-year, $9.9M major league contract. Harper signs the deal, which is the richest ever for a positional player, just 20 seconds prior to midnight. Nats President Stan Kasten, who tossed a shaving cream pie in the face of GM Mike Rizzo in the aftermath of completing the deal, admitted that he was unsure Harper would sign until, quite literally, the final second. The triumvirate of Harper, Strasburg and Ryan Zimmerman now provides the foundation for a franchise that has yet to fully find its footing since moving to DC in ’05.